Page 249 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

224 Tara Ubhe

inhuman feeling that the girl’s life, instead of growing, should perish,
be nipped in the bud. Her existence is worthless. Four comparisons are
borrowed from the vegetable world to convey her no-value.

4. Bran of ragi: A girl is a like bran of ragi or red millet. It is
a good nutritious grain, but its bran is bitter. While pounding
ragi, if the bran happens to touch the body, one feels an itching
sensation; the throat begins to irritate. Thus the bran is only
worth being thrown away as it carries no value. Such is the case
with a woman.

The bran of red millet is of no use whatsoever
O king Ram, why do you give a woman life?

Sita has only bran of ragi to eat when she is sent away by Ram to suffer
alone her forest exile (vanavās). Such was the hardship of her exile.

5. Flower of ramita tree: This flower is found in the region
of Mulshi taluka. The tree (Eriocephala) is of no use.
A child plucks flowers of jasmin and champak to play
But the branches of rāmīt . ā‚ woman, go as fuel only.

If ashes of rāmīt . ā are applied on the face, it leads to a burning sensation
and cracks develop on the skin. A saying circulates in our area that
asks to guard one from ‘offering that tree to god or giving it to eat to
human beings’.

6. Wild fig: A girl is compared to a wild fig; one may eat a garden
fig but throw away a wild one. Wild figs spread a cover of sludge
under the tree. They ought to be cleared away like mud.

Both garden fig and wild fig are one and the same
Here is the garden fig in bloom, the muck of the wild fig

7. Thorny shrub (cilār): The cilār is a thorny shrub only
useful for planting around fields as a fence. Its thorns can tear
out cloth, but are difficult to remove. Used as fuel, it throws out